FLORIDA: Senate Race Appears Headed For Recount

A bitter and expensive clash between Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson appears to be heading to a recount, despite Scott’s declaration of victory. Nelson has not conceded. His campaign says it’s preparing for a recount and will have observers in every one of the state’s 67 counties to monitor the process.

Scott’s lead narrowed slightly Wednesday morning to 30,161 votes out of more than 8.1 million cast — a margin of less than one half of 1 percent. Under state law in Florida, a recount is mandatory if the winning candidate’s margin is 0.5 percentage points or less.

Chris Hartline, a spokesman for Scott’s campaign, criticized the Nelson campaign for pushing ahead for a recount. “This race is over,” Hartline said. “It’s a sad way for Bill Nelson to end his career. He is desperately trying to hold on to something that no longer exists.”

Ken Detzner, Florida’s secretary of state, once conducted a voter-roll purge so obvious that the U.S. Department of Justice had to swoop in and stop him. Earlier this year, Detzner brazenly tried to prevent the state from opening more early-voting sites at colleges, which a judge said “reveal[ed] a stark pattern of discrimination.”

To call Detzner a close Rick Scott ally is an understatement: The governor and senator-elect gave Detzner his job. And the pair has spent the past eight years hatching obvious stunts to prevent Floridians from voting.

Now Detzner is magically in charge of initiating any possible recount in the race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson — a man with whom Detzner personally feuded on the 2018 campaign trail — and Scott.